Scan 3XS Z87 Hadron Hydro

Review: Scan 3XS Z87 Hadron Hydro

Conclusion

We've been watching the small-form-factor revolution with interest, and now we're finally convinced: gaming PCs needn't be any bigger than this.

In many ways, the Scan 3XS Z87 Hadron Hydro is the epitome of a high-end, modern-day gaming PC. Conforming to an industry-wide transition to smaller devices, this is a compact rig for enthusiasts that, despite measuring only 169mm (W) x 350mm (H) x 308mm (D), delivers a level of performance historically reserved for much larger machines.

Not one to skip a beat, Scan Computers has realised the full potential of EVGA's clever little chassis by employing an Intel Core i7-4770K processor and EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti Superclocked graphics. The duo would combine to deliver outstanding results in most scenarios, yet for its flagship small-form-factor PC, Scan raises the bar further by including factory overclocks and liquid-cooling as standard.

Factor in 16GB of Corsair Vengeance Pro DDR3 2,133 memory and a large, speedy 500GB Samsung Evo SSD, and you have superlative all-round performance in a well-built package that's way smaller than most gaming rigs. We've been watching the small-form-factor revolution with interest, and now we're finally convinced: gaming PCs needn't be any bigger than this.

The Good

Awesome all-round performance
Factory overclocked CPU, GPU and frame buffer
Liquid-cooling encompasses core components
Ships with a fast SSD as standard
Way smaller than most gaming rigs
Excellent build quality and implementation
Good choice of configuration options
Backed by a 3-year warranty

The Bad

Pump noise could be an issue
Default spec. costs almost £2,000

HEXUS.awards

Scan 3XS Z87 Hadron Hydro

HEXUS.where2buy

The Scan 3XS Z87 Hadron Hydro small-form-factor gaming PC is available to configure and purchase from Scan Computers.

HEXUS.right2reply

At HEXUS, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any company representatives for the products reviewed choose to respond, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.

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Paying £1950.16 for a system that comes in as £1673.72(asus DCUII/ek Ni w/o dvdrw) in parts is a bit much. I would have understood if they used the Classified watercooled cards (£1702.79 w/o dvdrw) would have been much more understandable for this price as the card cost £647.74 and the one they use £628.84, that £20 cost can be easily recovered by what they pay the guy who removes the ACX cooler to replace it with the ek waterblock

Scan are pretty good when it comes to assembly price, I reckon the extra cost is because of the extra work required to build this.

Gotta be quite the ballache putting this together, not only working with tight constraints but making sure the liquid cooling runs fine/no leaks etc. so the asking price isn't that bad, it's probably a few days work..and before anyone says “£300 for a few days work I doubt they pay their staff that much”, it's a company which works on the principle of making a profit, charging only what it costs them defeats the purpose of a business :P

Also I reckon it's a comfortable price point for those who would want this - it's not something a “real” PC person would pay, as any worth his salt would both wanna build it himself, and not go for unnecessary liquid cooling (seriously, air cooling is just fine), it's more a boutique product…in my opinion anyway.

Gotta say wouldn't say no if I had one lobbed at me for free though, but I'm a sucker for a monster case, give me a full tower any day :)

Comparing this to an Intel NUC that is over 4 times cheaper ?

This is like Top Gear comparing a ferrari against a Ford Fiesta ! I'd of prefered a comparison to a similar PC pre-build from scan that has similar specs, than a NUC that is in no way aimed at the same crowd at all.

Or did you compare it to such lacklustre systems in order to make it purposefully jump out of the graphs more, artificially making it look better than the others ?

@Sim0n - did you read the bottom of page 2? where it says

Notes

Scan's 3XS Z87 Hadron Hydro is the first overclocked gaming rig to enter the HEXUS labs since the introduction of our new test suite. We're including benchmark results from a selection of much cheaper small-form-factor PCs, though do bear in mind they are only a point of reference and cannot be compared directly.

Other gaming rigs will be added to the line-up in due course, but for now we're only interested in seeing what sort of numbers the 3XS Z87 Hadron Hydro can achieve.

its just to build up a big table of results from different price points, and by using one set of tests you can easily see what throwing more money at a PC can get you.

there's nothing nefarious going on from what I can see anyhow. :)